Flat Wound Danger?

[SMPTE]

I'm having problems getting the setup on my Tele back in order. I'm having issues keeping it from fretting out on the 1-5th frets even with the saddles way high. I tried adjusting the truss but that only seemed to help a little.

I have .10 chromes on there, could the extra tension they're putting on be causing the problem?

Ideas? Have I fried my neck?

[CoolHandDuke]

extra tension would make fretting out less not more


did you turn the truss rod the right way?



eyesight the neck to make sure there is a little relief(bow) with the headstock curling up as opposed to back


it is EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to render a neck unusable


only thing you really have to be aware of is

1. backbow
2.breaking truss rod by adjusting beyond its limit(you'll feel it ....completely tight going one way....loose going the other. there should be some tension both ways)

if it is totally loose good chance you went to far.(unlikely)

even without a truss rod a neck can still function well

[mellecaster]

Fried a Neck w/ .010s ????....I think not....you have other issues IMO

[SMPTE]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

Fried a Neck w/ .010s ????....I think not....you have other issues IMO

people keep telling me that...

[Dacious]

Fret any string at the 1st fret, then at the 17th. If you don't have some relief (small gap under the string to the frets) in the middle, you have a convex neck. That means the neck is high in the middle. This is causing the frettingout at the lower positions.

Some flatwounds actually have a lower string tension than roundwounds. That is allowing your neck to bow overcentre or IOW bend backwards. You can also see this by sighting down the line of the neck from the nut to the bridge. If the neck doesn't have a slight bow and gap under the middle frets, it is too straight over overbowed.

If you have a convex neck, you need to reduce the tension on the trussrod. That means you should back off the strings, then turn the rod anti-clockwise 1/4. Retune to pitch. Refret the string and 1st and 17th and recheck clearance under the middle. All you are looking for is a slight positive clearance like a business card thickness.

Once you have the relief, you can set action - which should be about 3mm for the treble, 4mm for the bass side. Then you can set intonation.

That's the order - relief, action, intonation. Every time you change string gauge - guess what.

I'm not sure know why you would want flats on a Tele anyhow, as you're just losing A) highs and B) sustain, both of which are usually considered Tele strengths.

[Mike Simpson]

Originally Posted by SMPTE

I'm having problems getting the setup on my Tele back in order. I'm having issues keeping it from fretting out on the 1-5th frets even with the saddles way high. I tried adjusting the truss but that only seemed to help a little.

I have .10 chromes on there, could the extra tension they're putting on be causing the problem?

Ideas? Have I fried my neck?

Could the nut be slotted too low?

Sand a pencil in half and lay the flat part on the first couple of frets and make a mark on the nut... your nut slots should not be below that line.